


Intermezzo: Three Pirates and a Lightsaber

by B_Radley



Series: Rise and Fight Again [3]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Guilt, Healing, mentions of past relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-07-15 22:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7241509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year and a half after Order 66, Ahsoka Tano finds herself adrift. A mistake that she has made in her new occupation sends her into deep cover. She will find friends and adversaries, both old and new as she attempts to find the legacies of lost Jedi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Pirate

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Thou Soul of Love and Bravery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13221201) by [B_Radley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley). 



> Author’s Note: This is a reboot and a revision—a re-imagining of a very early story. I have updated it to bring it more into line with canon, as well as the direction of my stories (especially with the current one _Thou Soul of Love and Bravery_
> 
> Also like to think that I have updated it reflecting what I have learned in the past two years about writing.
> 
> I hope that you enjoy!

The cheap whiskey burns as she downs it. She probably should have stuck with the ale, but sitting in this place day after day waiting on the off chance that someone might have seen her post on the Darknet boards sets her teeth on edge

The added factor of posing as someone interested in outlawed weaponry that carries an instant death sentence probably has something to do with it as well.

She thinks about the post and for about the fifteenth time wonders if she has overstepped. A half-assed attempt at trying to catch the attention of any surviving Jedi, plus the added complication of trying to claim the legacies of dead Jedi from those who would profit from and exploit them could earn her a number of things.

All while keeping her connection to a nascent rebellion against Imperial authority, secret, as well as her status as a Force-user.

Any and all of the results of these complications that she might earn would be unpleasant. A lightsaber thrust from one of those Jedi hoping to remain hidden, who may or may not know her history. A volley of blaster shots from former brothers. Any manner of unpleasant demise from those same exploiters.

All because of guilt. Some might say survivor's guilt, as well as something in the Force telling her to find something.

Ahsoka Tano, once a Padawan in the great Jedi Order; the apprentice of the Hero Without Fear, is now another face trying to remain nameless and hidden in the first year and a half or so of the New Order, sits in the corner booth of a cantina on the wrong side of town on a nondescript world in the Outer Rim. A world like a hundred others that now seem to be the extent of her life in hiding. She is nearly nineteen years old, wondering if she will make that name day.

With the emptiness that she feels within the Force, she does not know if she will find any surviving Jedi. In the time since her mind and heart was ripped by death and destruction, as flames in the Force were snuffed out like candles at meditation, she has maintained her anonymity, both as Fulcrum and as a nobody now submerged into deep cover, by moving constantly.

She is alone among her kind. The Force, which she had tried to dim once the agony of the deaths of so many hit her, tells her only bits and pieces. She cannot count on the fact that she left the Order a year before it died. With a Sith Lord ruling the Galaxy, any Force-sensitive would be in danger.

Hence, the post. A post inspired by meditation and visions from the Force after losing several days of her memory. Meditation inspired after a night of _turu_ -grass moonshine and sex on her homeworld, where she had gone to hide and collect herself after sending the submerge codes to Bail Organa. Ahsoka closes her eyes at those memories. The memory of the tastes of the Togruta hunter’s skin under her teeth, as they thrust against one another in desperate abandon. 

She tries not to think of the hidden cave on that world. A cave that even the Akul avoid, as well as protect. A cave where two half-finished items from her interrupted path rest safely. Two items she had reclaimed from the Dark Side, on a small, dying farming moon.

Ahsoka shakes her head at those memories—pushing thoughts of the risk she had taken with the hunter—both to her and him. She hopes that she can find someone who survived. Or at the least claim any other lightsabers out there to keep them from gracing some sleemo's collection, or keeping them from being melted down by the Empire in some arcane Sith-origin ceremony.

She can only hope that the post is vague enough to signal any Jedi, but also inform anyone wanting to sell a lightsaber or any other Jedi items that she was a willing buyer. She may only succeed in guiding the Empire's agents to her and end her misery and loneliness, without harming any of the few people who know she is alive. She shakes her head. This life of really bad bar whiskey and even worse food is truly amplifying her despair. 

She thinks of her first experiences of whiskey - the fine quality sauce served at some of Padme's functions; of slipping drinks when Anakin and Obi-wan weren't looking.

Of course, this triggers more feelings of despair, as she thinks of Padme. The Holonet news on the Outer Rim worlds had painted her death in childbirth as a tragedy - compounded somehow by the Jedi treachery. 

A shadow passes between the light of the door and her table. She looks up, tensing as the shadow sits in the seat across from her. She keeps her hands hidden under the cloak. The shadow puts its hands on the table.

Ahsoka sees the olive green hands with a cross-shaped pattern of black tattoos on the backs of both hands. Her eyes track up to the face of the interloper.

A Mirialan male with the same pattern of tattoos on his face looks at her with a studied expression.

She stops seeing his face as memories flood to her. 

Memories of two Padawans trapped under tons of stone. Of smiling and talking over rations in a medical ship. 

Of breathless cries as she puts her lips against bare olive green skin; of kissing the pattern of black diamonds on that skin in places that are hidden. Of resting in those green skinned arms in a moment of stolen light; her own skin tingling from the full connection and her heart racing.

Of the anger and vitriol coming from the owner of that skin in a courtroom.

_Well, Tano, let's add to the guilt._

She realizes that the interloper is speaking to her.

"So, what gave you the idea that 'Orange Windu' would be an original alias?" the Mirialan asks.

"Everyone is a critic," she says. "Do you have anything for me?"

"Yes, I have a lead for you on one of those items," he whispers. "But I would rather not discuss them in public."

Her senses pick up. She studies him closer. He gazes at her without expression on his face under her scrutiny. He appears to be older than she is by a decade, clad in simple spacer's garb. A blaster sits in a holster low on his belt; a knife on the other side.

She scans him. She senses no deception, but a glimpse of something of a connection with others. His eyes dart around the bar. Another denizen of the bar catches his eye and looks away.

Another lowlife looks at her directly. She looks at the spacer sitting across from her. 

He shrugs. "Boss wants to talk to you, about your interest," he says.

_Well, I guess another pretty Mirialan face is going to be the end of me._

"If your boss really wants to talk to me," Ahsoka says, "he can come sit with me and I will buy him a drink."

"First off, he is a she and she is not here," he says, a smile quirking his handsome, even features. "She has her own bar and would be glad to buy you better whiskey than this place.

She looks at him. "I am really liking this establishment," she says. "The puke on the floor adds a certain ambience."

The Face stands up. The blaster is in his hands within a quarter second.

Ahsoka remains seated at the table. She finishes her whisky and waves the barmaid for another. She looks up at him with her best look of innocence on her face - it is still easy at her young age, but then a Smirk that used to drive a good number of her teachers to drink plays across her face. 

The Mirialan raises an eyebrow. "I know that you can see that there are four other guns on my side in this bar," he says. "I am also holding a blaster on you and while you might have something under your cloak there other than a nice body, I am betting that you can't get me before the other four get you."

The barmaid brings another drink, as well as one for the Mirialan. She scoots away when she sees the blaster.

Ahsoka sips her whisky, ignoring the cloudy glass.

Noticeable irritation plays across the Face. Ahsoka puts him out of his misery.

"You might want to check with your friends on that," she says.

"Do you really think that I am dumb enough to fall for that?"he asks.

A new voice from behind him answers for Ahsoka, "I don't think that you really want her to answer that, Tahlen."

Nice name. Ahsoka thinks.

Tahlen turns and looks at the figure. A tall, beautiful Pantoran woman stands in the door, dressed in a simple spacer's outfit. Her bronze eyes gaze at him directly. Her blue face is remarkable in that she has no traditional Pantoran familial tattoos. Her right hand, clad in a pair of backless pilot's gloves, rests upon the well-worn butt of a holstered pistol high on her left hip in a cross-draw rig.

Tahlen turns his attention to her. He looks around the bar and sees what Ahsoka was smirking at. At least six guns are pointed at his four 'friends.'

He turns to the Pantoran. His blaster tracks toward her. He can see her visibly tense and her resting hand tighten on the blaster.

"Tahlen, even though I and the rest of the crew threw your ass out for being a thief, I can't believe you would be that stupid to point a blaster at me," she says. Her voice and her face harden, "If I have to pull, I will put you down, this time. For good."

Tahlen stands gazing at her. He slowly holsters his pistol. "You win this time, Lassa," he says. "If you hadn't been here, it would have been a different story."

She smiles. "I don't think so, Tahlen," she answers, "The young lady behind you had the drop on you from the time that you sat down. I know her. She is a lot smarter than you and anyone you brought with you. Go ahead, turn around."

The Mirialan turns slowly. The Togruta still wears that insufferable smirk, but her robe is open and two well cared for DC-17s are pointed at his head. Her powerful arms hold the weapons steady and her eyes are clear, despite the four shots of whiskey he had seen her down.

"Sorry, " 'Orange' says, "Tell your boss that if she wants to talk, she doesn't need to send pretty errand boys to talk for her."

"Tahlen, you need to know something," the Pantoran says, "anyone who has interest in this young lady and her interests, will have to deal with the Blood Bone Order. Take your trash and go," Lassa says.

Ahsoka holsters her blasters under her arms. 

Lassa Rhayme, pirate captain, walks over to her booth and sits down. She looks at Ahsoka.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed, sweetling? What are you thinking? Are you thinking?"

"Hello, Lassa," Ahsoka says. "Been awhile. Which question do you want me to answer first?"


	2. Tough Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine is told in no uncertain terms that she has her head placed firmly up her shebs.

Ahsoka feels herself crawling up to the light. Her dreams still as she climbs. Dreams of death and pain, but tempered with one of a week of happiness and a sense of belonging before the universe died.

She starts awake and realizes that she is lying in a comfortable bed with the sheets pulled up to her waist. Given some of the places that she has spent nights in the last year, she doesn't feel like she has to check for any creatures that might have tagged along.

She raises herself up on her elbows and looks at her surroundings. A large compartment appointed with comfort and care. She had spent a week in this compartment - before Mandalore—before her soul died.

She listens intently to her surroundings. She realizes that a hyperdrive is thrumming - but her attuned senses recognize a skip in the thrum. _That's not right_. She should know. She had spent that same week inside the drive, tuning it within a centimeter of its life. _Didn't have a skip when I got through with it,_ she thinks with pride - pride in her Master's unorthodox lessons as well as those more conventional.

She starts to climb out of the bed, but realizes that some things are missing. She is also alone in the bed, but that isn't important. She remembers strong arms holding her, but little more. Lassa had left her to herself and to sleep, but had been with her for her terrors.

She pads to the 'fresher. She remembers the huge shower and tub from before. After relief, she steps into the shower and programs a favorite cycle. Hot water massages her from all sides.

She walks back into the main compartment, wearing a borrowed robe, toweling her lekku dry.

Lassa Rhayme sits at a table covered with plates and bowls. She is clad in her shipboard clothing. She gets up and walks over to Ahsoka. They embrace and the pirate hands her a large cup of caf.

Ahsoka glances over to the bed and sees that her clothes lie on the bed, freshly cleaned. She looks at Rhayme.

"All part of the service, sweetling," she says. "Dig in."

Ahsoka digs in to the breakfast, a breakfast that any carnivore would relish. Especially one that has been living on ration bars and bad bar food for the last year or so. _Still_...

"I know it is not the same as when you were here last," the Pantoran says, "but I don't have a Jedi cooking for us, just as I don't have an ex-Jedi repairing my ship."

They both look at one another without words. "Before you ask, Ahsoka," Lassa says, "I only know that he is dead." She looks away. Ahsoka is silent.

Lassa continues, "He left soon after you. He had done his job for the Council and he was going back."

She looks into Ahsoka's eyes. "It was his intention to leave the Jedi. They talked him into one last mission." She doesn’t finish the thought as she looks away.

Ahsoka absorbs this and finally says, "I didn't feel it. I don't know why. Just felt the emptiness."

Lassa looks at her firmly. "Enough. I don't want to talk about the past. I want to talk about the future - yours specifically."

Ahsoka finishes her breakfast and puts the fork down.

"You never answered any of my questions last night, before or after we came back to the _Opportunity_ ," the pirate says. "Why are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Ahsoka ponders her caf cup for a long moment.

"I don't believe that I am," she says darkly.

"Bullshit," Lassa says. "You leave a post on the Darknet guaranteed to bring the Empire down on you - not really thinking it through. Broadcasting your location for them or any sleemo bounty hunter on the off chance that you can contact a survivor.” She can see her words hitting home. “Not to mention the fact that said survivor might be a trifle paranoid, or might not have gotten the memo from two years ago that you are not a traitor and a murderer of Jedi."

The blue in her face has risen with her passion.

Ahsoka can feel her own anger rising.

"Then what the hell do you expect me to do, Rhayme?"she shouts. "Come live the hearty life of a pirate on the Outer Rim, spending the rest of my life calibrating your ship's hyperdrive, as well as your own? What does that guarantee me except that I'll probably wind up choking out my life at the end of a rope as a pirate, rather than shot or beheaded as a Jedi?"

She stands up and walks over to the viewport and stares out at the chaos of hyperspace.

She feels the pirate captain come up behind her. She feels strong arms encircle her waist.

"There are worse things that you could do, Tano," Lassa says. "At least if you come here, you will have someone looking out for you, rather than waiting for someone to stick a knife in you, only relying on your senses-your admittedly incredible senses-to protect you."

"As for that rope - you should know. If you are dangling from that rope, it means that I am already dead, or I am dancing next to you. Just like I would be for any of my crew."

Ahsoka bows her head and closes her eyes.

"Lassa, I am sorry," she says. "I am grateful for what you have done for me, then and now. But this is something I have to do on my own." She closes her eyes, seeing the images that had haunted her after a lost week.

Lassa lets her go and stands next to her. "Just like before, you have to find your own path. How has that worked out for you, sweetling?"

"I am alive."

"Really? Are you?"

Ahsoka turns and looks at her. Lassa's bronze eyes remain steady.

"Did you wonder how the gang and I showed up when we did?" she asks.

Ahsoka remains silent.

"It is because, my lovely idiot, I have been looking out for any tiny bit of information about the Jedi that I can find. My sources pinged your post as soon as you put it up," she says. "I am a mercenary and a pirate. I have fractured the Republic's commerce laws gleefully one by one. But after meeting and living and fighting with the three Force-users I have known, I know that the Galaxy was better off with them in it.” She takes a sip of her caf, pauses as if analyzing the flavors. "Even though I am a criminal. I have a code to live by. Paramount to that code is that those who have lived under my protection, will always live under my protection."

Ahsoka takes the pirate's hands in her own. "I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Lassa," she says.

"I would never do that. But I would fight them with you,” the pirate says. Ahsoka closes her eyes as she sees in her mind a human in the hunt-clothing of her culture, reciting similar words to her. Another memory of that same hunter, older, kneeling across from her on the bed in this room, as they prepared to take another step, while Lassa Rhayme looked on.

For the first time since her monologue began, Lassa shows pain in her expressive eyes. 

"Until I saw you in that bar, I thought that you were all dead." 

They sit on the couch next to the port. 

Lassa speaks first. "More than you know, Ahsoka, I know why you are doing this," she says. "I just want you to do it smart and live through it. You have no reason to throw your life away. I will help you where I can."

Ahsoka ponders this. "You apparently have a pretty good network," she says.

"Yes, I do." 

"Lassa, where are we headed in hyperspace?"the ex-Jedi asks.

The beginnings of a full-blown Tano-like Smirk play on Lassa's lips. "I wondered when you were going to get to that, babe," the Captain says. "My sources got another hit for you."

"What kind of hit?"the young ex-Jedi asks.

"They figured out where the hit on your post came from," Lassa replies.

Ahsoka looks impressed. Lassa swells and says, "I have better nerds than you do."

"Where did it come from?" 

"A docking bay in the spaceport on Saleucami."

"Any idea about who was there?" Ahsoka asks.

"Log says a Corellian freighter called the _Idiot's Array,_ " Lassa replies.

Ahsoka raises an eyebrow marking.

"She is a suspected spice smuggler. Don't know anything about the Captain, but I do know that it is registered to a Hutt on Nar Shadaa."

"Not that it matters, but which Hutt?" Ahsoka asks.

"One called Grakkus." 

Ahsoka shows no recognition. She muses, "It doesn't really matter which, they're all bad news."

"One other thing," Lassa says, "the ship put out its own post. They're looking for a crew member willing to join at a moment's notice, no questions asked. Kinda hard to get experienced crew members on a backwater like Saleucami."

As soon as she says it, she regrets it. She can see the younger woman's eyes light up. "Can you drop me there?" Ahsoka asks. 

"I thought that you would ask that. I can, but I would rather stay there and back you."

Ahsoka thinks about this. She looks like she is going to refuse. 

"I would appreciate it, Lassa," she says. "I need to respond to my original post and update it."

"You can't," Lassa says, "we deleted it."

"Without my password?" Tano asks, "Isn't that illegal? I'm shocked at you Captain Rhayme." The Smirk is running full power.

Lassa matches it. She points at herself, and in a singsong voice says, "Pirate."

+=+=+=+=+=

Lassa wakens with a start. She hears a slight noise from beside her. Her eyes glisten as she looks down at the younger woman. A soft embrace, just after breakfast, had led them to a more energetic way of passing the time through a long hyperspace trip. She stifles a sob as she thinks of the desperate touches of skin and lips. _Did we seize the light, or did we just try to exorcise the darkness? The pain? The grief?_

She touches Ahsoka’s forehead. She thinks of how she had not been entirely truthful, or at least she hadn’t finished the story. She only suspected that the young disaffected Corellian Jedi was dead. He had been alive for a year after the Jedi died. She knew because she had kicked him off of the ship after one of his reckless attempts to get someone to kill him had resulted in serious injury to one of her crew. Lassa had told him that she couldn’t watch him destroy himself. That the young woman lying next to her, who both had thought dead with the others, would never want this.

He hadn’t argued. They had left him on Mandalore, to try and find some of a different past, in the Outer Rim world of his birth, rather than the Core World of his father’s.

She shakes her head. _Should she tell Ahsoka? Would it help, sending her off on another quest when she already has several going on at once?_

The answers elude her. She has time.

Lassa reaches down and kisses Ahsoka awake. Ahsoka smiles as her arm goes around Lassa’s back.

Their cries are soft, as they dance more gently, with an easy rhythm.


	3. Lightsaber Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine exorcises her Mirialan demons with broken limbs

Ahsoka Tano and Lassa Rhayme lie on a hill overlooking the the one docking bay in the tiny spaceport of Saleucami. They observe the surplus _Gozanti_ -class freighter taking up space in the bay. Several crew members board the ship through its ground elevator; the engine compartment is open with components strewn about the floor of the docking bay.

The duo, together with Lassa's Tholothian gunner, Adis, have been watching for several hours. They wait for the best time for Ahsoka to board and begin her stint as the new hyperdrive mechanic. The _Opportunity_ is parked, together with the rest of the crew, in an open field away from the tiny port.

Lassa looks at the young ex-Jedi. She is focused on the ship. Lassa has seen her focused before; when concentrating on mundane tasks such as fixing the ship; she herself has been the object of that focus while receiving more - intimate attentions. Nothing compares to this. Ahsoka watches the comings and goings of the crew through macrobinoculars. Lassa feels as if she is drawn into Ahsoka's concentration and focus. The feeling is of being contained in the cone of focus; even as an outsider, of a Jedi and a huntress is physical and raw.

It almost feels like a desecration to break that focus.

Ahsoka lowers the binoculars and catches Lassa looking at her intently. "What?" she asks, with a hint of irritation.

"You okay?" the pirate asks.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ahsoka replies, her voice even.

"Oh, no reason, except for the fact that your entire being is wrapped up in the quest for this blade, and finding some sort of redemption," Lassa says.

Ahsoka sighs. "I’m not looking for redemption, Captain," she says. " I know that this may be a fool's errand, but I’ve got to try. I owe it to the Jedi whose blade that is—no one else.” She returns to her surveillance. "No one else will do it," she adds in a voice barely audible.

"Captain, kid, I hate to interrupt this little party," the Tholothian interjects, "but there might be a change in plans."

Both of the women track their binoculars towards the _Idiot's Array_. There, framed in the door of the bay is an unexpected sight.

"This isn't good," Ahsoka says.

An tall figure, dressed in ordinary spacers' garb stands near the ramp of the freighter. His olive-green complexion is marked by black, geometric tattoos in a cross-shaped pattern. He stands there as if he belongs; as if he is the king of the world. He just might be, as several of the freighter's crew members come up to him and report. He sends them on various errands around the bay and the area. He is clearly in charge as each crewmember moves quickly to complete their tasks.

Ahsoka curses. "Tahlen."she growls.

Lassa is thoughtful. She ignores Ahsoka staring intently at her; as if trying to read her thoughts. 

"What?" Ahsoka asks again.

"I think that we can still use this," the pirate says.

Ahsoka looks at her with an thunderous expression.

"Well, we have a connection, other than your prospective employment," Lassa says, with a minimum of Smirk, "or at least you do."

"What?" says Ahsoka. 

_It is becoming a refrain_ , Lassa thinks with annoyance.

"I caught a glimpse of your conversation with Tahlen,"Lassa says, "before weapons were drawn. You definitely have his interest."

Ahsoka snorts.

"Don't give me that look, babe. I know him. I've kicked him out of my bed before, and I've shot him before. I know his body language. And, you, my beautiful Jedi, have something going on as well."

"I...."

Ahsoka closes her mouth and looks down at her hands.

"Is it men in general, or just Mirialans?" Lassa gently asks. Ahsoka's eyes flick to her side at the last word. "Never mind," Lassa says gently, "You don't have to answer. I think that we can use this to get you in there."

"Are you crazy?" Ahsoka explodes, "he will shoot me before I get in through the door very far."

"Well, let's make it where he won't want to shoot you." Lassa smiles.

She looks at the Togruta. "First, get rid of that damned robe."

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, but shoulders out of the heavy garment. She flinches for half a second as Lassa reaches for her.

The Tholothian flinches for longer than that. He studiously averts his eyes.

Lassa's fingers caress Ahsoka's throat as she starts to unbutton her top. Ahsoka's eyebrow markings are raised to the level of her headdress and her eyes flash with anger for an instant.

Only for an instant. Her brows rise higher as Lassa's hands move lower, until her vest is open, with only two fastenings holding it closed at the bottom. The Pantoran pauses for a moment and runs her hands under the garment to spread it open more. She then pulls the straps of the Togruta's shoulder holsters tighter towards the center.

"There," she says approvingly, "that should do it." Lassa narrows her eyes at the younger woman. "No," she continues, "there is something missing." She looks over at the middle-aged Thlothian, who appears to be praying that no one will address him during this ordeal. "Adis," his Captain says, "can I borrow your jacket?"

"Captain," he starts, "this is pure nerf-leather. I have had it for years, even before the Clone War...” He trails off, looking away. He pulls the weathered garment off and hands it to his Captain.

"Tano will take good care of it," she reassures, "won't you Tano?"

Ahsoka nods. She appears distracted as she pulls the garment on. It is larger than she can wear, but this fact adds, rather, than detracts from the image.

_Innocent debauchery_ , is the first descriptor that comes to Lassa’s mind. She giggles, but stops at the fearsome look from her model. She grins. "That should get him going, long enough for you to get in and find what you're looking for, don't you think?"

Ahsoka grimaces. The grimace is replaced with a sheepish expression. 

"No, no, no," exclaims Lassa. "That is _not_ the look that we are going for." She stops, thinking back for a moment, remembering a conversation in bed about certain Togruta appendages. Without pause, she moves as if straightening the lapels of the jacket and gently grasps Ahsoka's lekku. While moving them outside of the jacket, she gently strokes a particular spot on the back of the tips with her fingers. Ahsoka's breathing quickens and her mouth slightly opens. Her pupils dilate.

"There," Lassa says, "that’ll do it." 

Lassa is conscious of Adis' radioactive blush. She looks at him. “Come on, Adis. It’s not like we’re going at it in front of you.”

“Coulda fooled me,” he says, averting his gaze again.

“These ain’t Twi’lek. Little different,” she says, smiling softly.

After a moment, he nods.

Lassa looks directly at Ahsoka. She puts her hands on the ex-Jedi's shoulder. In a firm voice she says, "Ground rules. I wouldn’t suggest this way if I didn't have every confidence in you as a fighter. Get in, get him subdued, get what you are looking for and get out. Remember that all of this," She gestures over Ahsoka’s body and clothing. "It’s nothing more than a weapon—it’s not all that you are. Don't hang around too long."

"Tahlen fancies himself a ladies man, a real cocksman," Lassa continues. "He thinks that he’s a pro, that he’ll be able to manipulate you. He doesn't have what you have. Hell, he didn't even have what I have, which was a quick temper and a blaster, but he tried. He will try it with you."

A smirk flows easily across Lassa’s lips. "If it gets to it, have him show you the scar on his ass that my blaster gave him when he tried too hard."

Ahsoka matches Lassa's smirk. Her eyes show Lassa her strength and her power—her confidence. She stands up.

"I'll see you in a bit, Captain Rhayme," she says. "Don't wait up. Take care." She nods at Addis. She can see the look of concern coupled with distaste on the gunner's face.

Lassa kisses Ahsoka on the cheek and whispers, "If you have to, think about how we made the time pass the last few hours of the trip in hyperspace."

She turns and starts to saunter down the hill. Lassa gives a silent prayer to the moon goddess for fools and Jedi. She looks over at Adis. She knows his distant look hides thoughts of his own oldest daughter, an adopted Twi’lek.

Lassa closes her eyes. _She would’ve been around Ahsoka’s age, now _. She reaches over and touches the gunner’s cheek, pulling him towards her.__

__+=+=+=+=+=_ _

__Ahsoka walks up on the docking bay. Her years of training tell her to look at every corner of every aspect of the place for danger. Her newfound confidence in other skills tells her to walk confidently up to the quarterdeck watch._ _

__"I'm your new hyperdrive mechanic," she says. "Take me to Tahlen."_ _

__The two meatheads at the hatch stare at her, concentrating on her mostly bared chest. _Well, at least they are convinced that there aren't any weapons there_. They look at her blankly. She raises her hand and waves it. "You will tell me how to get to Tahlen's quarters."_ _

__Both meatheads intone, "We will tell you how to get to the First Mate's quarters. First hatch on the next deck up."_ _

__"You will forget all that you heard and seen,"she continues._ _

__"We will forget all that we have heard," they respond._ _

__She continues up the ramp and down the companionway. She comes to the correct door. She takes a deep breath and walks through the door._ _

__Tahlen is seated on his bunk, paging through a holozine. He looks up in surprise; he shoves the 'zine aside. He stands up and looks at her with a hooded look._ _

__"Well, well, well," he says. "Looks like I made an impression after all, little Orange."_ _

__She smiles at him, with a predatory look._ _

__"To what do I owe the pleasure, Orange?" Tahlen continues._ _

__"Just wanted to re-open negotiations for that item," she says smoothly. She shrugs her jacket off, taking an inordinate amount of time to stretch and shrug it off._ _

__His eyes follow her every movement. She can feel the lust coming off of him in waves. But she can feel something else in the cabin as well. She can sense a impression of what she is looking for as the Force moves in rushes around her._ _

__Her concentration must have slipped in her scan, as she sees Tahlen look at her quizzically.  
She smiles at him and ducks her head—her eyes as large as she can make them. She moves forward and puts her hand on the side of his face with a feather touch._ _

__He visibly relaxes with a look of lustful triumph. She doesn't break his face. Instead, she draws him in and touches his lips with hers. Her tongue slips between his lips. The kiss deepens as he places his hand on her ass possessively. She very deliberately places two fingers on his forehead and whispers, "Sleep."_ _

__He falls to the bunk, striking his head on the bulkhead._ _

__She follows him down and whispers in his ear, "You will remember only that you enjoyed the kriffing of a lifetime and wake up refreshed in two hours." As an afterthought, she adds with a full-powered Smirk, "You will remember that I was the best that you had ever had."_ _

__She turns and opens herself to the Force fully. An impression pricks at the edge of her consciousness. She closes her eyes and brings her focus in tightly. She opens her eyes and finds that she is at a closet door. As if in a daze, she opens it and sees a wooden box with a sling attached._ _

__She reverently draws the box out and gently opens it. There, resting in a padded inset is the lightsaber - the object that has drawn her attention, that has tuned her senses to this moment and this place. She runs her hand over the weapon, but she doesn't draw it. A tiny presence, a spark of a joyful signature causes her eyes to fill with moisture. Her heart and her Force signature expand._ _

__The spark gives her the impression of wry, controlled humor warmth as she moves back into the compartment. The signature dims only a tiny bit as she closes the box and slings it. She moves to collect her jacket._ _

__As she turns towards the hatch of the cabin, she hears a noise behind her—the unmistakeable sound of a blaster being charged._ _

__"Did you think that you were going to get me all worked up and just leave me like that?"_ _

__+=+=+=+=+=_ _

__Lassa and Adis keep vigil on the hill. Both of them watch with increasing apprehension as the minutes stretch without sight of Ahsoka walking or even running back to their position. They watch as the crew of the _Idiot's Array_ reassemble the engine components that had heretofore been strewn about the bay._ _

__The crew was moving with purpose under the haranguing leadership of a hard-bitten Rodian, The Rodian, who the pirates had heard referred to as ‘Captain,’ has replaced the Mirialan _d'khut_. That same _d'khut_ was nowhere to be seen was not a good sign, as it might indicate that he was busy trying his questionable charm on a certain ex-Jedi in his cabin._ _

__Lassa sighs. She truly hopes that the young Togruta was making her way out of the ship and not wasting time on being cute with her skills. _This was exactly what I cautioned her against, she thinks. She doesn't have to prove that he can get into her pants in order to do the job "her" way; or to clear her head of any Mirialan baggage that she might have.__ _

__Adis clears his throat. "Skipper, sorry to bother you, but I’ve a lot of activity starting to show up around the ship that ain't been there before." His voice draws her out of her reverie._ _

__She looks through her macrobinoculars. Adis was right. A large number of Weequay were congregating by various exits. The crew of the freighter notice them as well and hurry to clear the remaining equipment._ _

__She catches a glimpse of a long red coat at the main entrance of the bay. She curses eloquently. _Well, babe, looks like our plan has gone to shit. Time to regroup and come in like we did the last time you were flirting with Tahlen.__ _

__"Let's go back to the ship, Adis," she says, "we're going to need bigger guns." _Don't worry, Ahsoka, we’re coming for you.__ _

__+=+=+=+=+=_ _

__"What do you mean, Tahlen?" Ahsoka asked, "I was just looking for a place to hang my clothes." She hoped that he didn't see the wince that she gave at her response._ _

__"Right," Tahlen says, "then why don't you just start getting out of them and we'll go from there..." He stops and sees the wooden box. She can see the servos whirling, slowly. "Hey!"_ _

__He doesn't get any further as she throws the box at his head and is on him. She captures his gun arm under her own. As he tries to twist away, she seizes the wrist holding the blaster and twists opposite her body. There is a sickening crunch as she moves the wrist at right angles to his body. Tahlen screams and drops the blaster, but he doesn't let go of her body. She shifts her arm forward and brings her other arm to his opposite shoulder as if in a dance. As she does, the Force yells at her for her mistake._ _

__Her brain screams, as does her throat. A blast of intense pain runs down her side as the knife that she forgot about on Tahlen's left hip scores a deep cut on her opposite ribs, ripping down past her belt ending at her hip, as she is able to carry her momentum to her left. Tahlen screams again and passes out as that momentum causes another crunching sound from his shoulder. Ahsoka does not pass out. The only sound is the gush of blood hitting the deck of the ship._ _


	4. The Pirate King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a Pirate King's guidelines permit him to help our heroine.

The pirate-King boards the ground elevator of the ship. For some reason, the crew of the freighter have abandoned their ship in a headlong rush in all directions. He sees unconscious crew lying at intervals in the passageways. He stoops over one and shakes him awake. His crew of scum are securing the ship and reassembling the hyperdrive.

The Quarren opens his eyes and looks vacantly at the King. "I will lie down and go to sleep forgetting everything that I have seen for the past hour," he intones.

The King shakes his head. His braids whirl as he looks around. He sees nothing of what he is expecting.

_Jedi._

The King continues along the passageway coming to a door marked "First Mate". The door is half-opened. He sees puddles of blood trailing from the cabin towards the unconscious crewmember. He enters the cabin. 

There, lying on the bunk, his arm and wrist at odd angles, is the Mirialan _d'khut_ that the King has engaged to sabotage this particular credit machine. The King purses his non-existent lips and pulls the Mirialan off of the bunk on to the deck. He kicks the _d'khut_ in the gut. The traitor moans and his eyes focus on the King. The King secures the blaster and the bloody knife that lies on the deck, next to puddles of crimson liquid.

Tahlen, the Mirialan says, "Hey, boss, everything’s under control."

"What happened, sleemo?" the King sneers.

"Something I was working on the side kind of blew up on me," Tahlen replied. "I had to cut her."

_Her?_

"And what did she do to you, you idiot?" the pirate asks contemptuously.

"Uhhh...."

"Never mind. Describe her to me."

The Mirialan's eyes try to focus on the pirate's reptilian face. "Kinda tall and thin. Perky. Blue eyes and oh, yeah, beautiful orange skin." A beatific smile crosses his lips. "She was the best I have ever had."

The pirate closes his eyes. _My little Jedi. I thought you were dead with the rest_. He picks up the Mirialan's head and slams it into the deck. Two of his minions enter the room. 

"Pick up this garbage and take him to the lockup. Have a medical droid look over him," the Weequay says.

More minions enter the cabin. He points to the nearest two and says, "Clean up the other messes on this ship. Leave them in the docking bay asleep. Someone has put them out for us."  
"You two," he points at the others, "come with me." He takes a last look at the cabin. He sees the open closet and the worn leather jacket lying on the deck.

Hondo Ohnaka sighs, and says to himself, "You can't get good help, anymore." He exits the cabin.

+=+=+=+=+=

Lassa Rhayme stands on the hill watching the Weequay pirates scurry about the ship. Adis stands next to her, a large rifle balanced on his right hip. In the time that they had returned to the _Opportunity,_ to get reinforcements, the Hondo gang has completely invested the _Idiot's Array_. She can see no sign of Ahsoka or of Tahlen.

_I hope that she is off of the ship. She told me that Hondo has no love for her, due to various misadventures over the years. Plus there’s the fact that the Mirialan is still in the picture. I wish I had shot him in a more deadly place than his ass._

There is also the problem of Ohnaka. It hasn't been too long of a time, since she and Ventress bested him. He might still hold a grudge against her. A grudge that could complicate things if I need to get Ahsoka out of there.

"Do you want us to start shooting, Boss?" Adis asks. He and the others tighten their grips on their various weapons.

"Not yet," she replies. "We have to find Ahsoka and get her out of there." 

Adis nods, his eyes filled with concern for their young partner. "She has been in there a long time, Lassa," he says gently. "She may already be dead."

Lassa turns on him with fire in her eyes. Adis does not flinch. The other pirates look at them, expectantly. Lassa's eyes close and she slumps visibly.

"I know," she tells the Thlothian, "I have to try. I am the one who talked her into going in there like she did."

"I have only met Ahsoka Tano a couple of times, Lassa," Adis says, "but I don't think anyone has ever talked her into doing something she doesn't want to, especially if it is something that she has her heart set on. She is as stubborn as you are."

With a slight smirk, Lassa nods.

"Cap," her navigator, Thyla Secura says, "I think something is going on."

Lassa looks through her macrobinoculars. She sees Hondo directing several teams of Weequay in all directions. Others are taking unconscious crew members off of the ship. There are no Mirialan and no Togruta among them. At least two of the crew members are walking off under their own power, but seem to be walking in a daze.

"That's my girl," Lassa exclaims. She sees the confusion among her crew. She points to the two zombies. "Those two have been hoodooed. I think she is alive."

She makes a decision.

"I think that Hondo is after the ship and cargo," she says. "I want one of you to stay here and watch what is going on. Everybody else back to the ship and be prepared to lift on a moment's notice."

"Adis," she smiles, "come with me. We are going to get your jacket back."

+=+=+=+=+=

Once again, Ahsoka Tano wonders if she will ever really learn. Once again, she is sitting in a bar in another spaceport watching the door because of her own inability to listen. 

_Get in, get the saber, get out. Don't get cute, Lassa says. You had to try to charm your way in and out. That tongue-lock at the start may have cost you. You should have just shot him like Lassa would have._

She sits in a corner booth, a stolen cloak and hood draped over her. One hand rests lightly on the butt of a blaster under her left shoulder, while the other attempts to staunch the flow of blood from a deep knife wound running from her ribs to her right hip. The barcloth that she holds to the wound has already turned a deep shade of crimson under her cloak. It was none too clean to begin with. She had snagged it from where it was tucked in the waistband of an Ithorian bartender who had only a passing acquaintance with personal hygiene, but ex-Jedi trying to stay out of the Empire's way can't be choosers. 

She imagines that she can feel the organisms crawling into her bloodstream.

Of course, it probably only has a marginally less number of organisms than the first cloth she had stuffed into her top, right after Tahlen had stabbed and cut her. A white undershirt purloined from a drawer in the cabin. Probably has social diseases she has never heard of.

_I hope that there is a bacta tank in my future._

She shakes her head, trying to clear it of everything but her situation in the here and now.

A nagging buzz at the back of her head alerts her to danger. Four Imperial troopers walk through the door of the watering hole. The Rodian captain, whom she had seen briefly as she boarded the ship, is with them, surveying the crowd. She looks at the blood spatters on the floor. 

She pulls deeper into the hood of the cloak that she borrowed, but there is no disguising the montrals sticking up at the top of the too small hood. She drops the towel and moves her other hand to the other holstered blaster. Her blood starts flowing again. The edges of her vision darken. She shifts the box with the lightsaber to her back. It has been months since she has even thought about lightsaber forms, especially those that deal with defense against energy weapons. Plus, using a lightsaber in front of Imperial troops will only guarantee a quick rest against a wall before they blast her into the next world.

She reaches into the Force for guidance, as she knows she can only fight her way out. As her hands tighten on the blasters, an almost forgotten voice breaks through her consciousness. 

Ahsoka stands as the troopers turn towards the voice. 

+=+=+=+=+=

"Helloooo!" the accented voice says, "Imperial types—there is a riot brewing down the street! There is a fire, pestilence, naked Gungans! Your assistance is needed!" The four troopers look incredulously at the owner of the voice, as he looks at them with slightly bulging eyes through a pair of flying goggles. His long red coat whirls around, as he begins to dance. The troopers shove him away and he stumbles out into the street. 

The troopers and the Rodian captain turn to the booth in the corner where a figure had been sitting. The booth was empty, except for a pool of blood on the seat. The troopers look towards the back of the cantina. A door swings shut. 

+=+=+=+=+=

Ahsoka doesn't hesitate with nostalgia. She is in the back alley running as fast as she can. Her side and lungs feel as if they are about to burst. She leaves blood spatters as she runs further away. There is a sound of blaster fire as the troopers burn through the door that she has propped the dumpster against. _I really hope that my DNA file was purged from the Jedi records._ Being dead to the Empire was useful. 

She stops at an alcove in a far wall. She looks up and down the streets. There is shouting in the near distance. She sees the four troopers run towards the shouting, away from her. She pulls her cloak off quickly and strips her top off. She pulls the saber from its box and transfers it to her left hand and steels herself. She unsheathes the yellow-green blade. Its glow is comforting to her as she prepares; it reminds her of a simpler, more straightforward time.

Without hesitation, she touches the blade of the saber to the open wound on her side and moves it down the cut. Her side feels as if an _Akul_ beast is ripping her lungs out through the wound. Her teeth clench on the scream that is forming. One of her sharp incisors tears into her lip as she moves the saber down to her hip; there she doesn't bother moving her trousers.

When she is finished, the wound is raggedly cauterized. It is smoking, but no longer bleeding as much. She pulls her top back on and peeks out of the alcove. The stormtroopers, as they are calling themselves now under the New Order, have not come by. 

"Togruta—don't move," she hears a sibilant voice say. She looks up to see the Rodian pointing a pistol at her. "You assault my first mate, and set us up for a hijacking."

"I really don't know anything about a hijacking, but I did assault that asshole that you call a first mate. I would do it again." she says. The Rodian fires, and instinctive lessons from her youth take over. She directs the bolt clumsily into the side of his head, a glancing blow, but enough to knock him on his ass. He doesn't get up immediately. She hears the troopers responding to the shot.

She then leaps up to the roof of the adjacent building. As she does, her vision grays out and she misses the lip of the roof. As she is falling, she hears the same half-remembered voice from the cantina suddenly exclaim "My little Jedi! You are certainly in the poodoo this time." It is the last thing that she hears, as everything goes black.


	5. Tough Love in Bacta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hondo Ohnaka finally stops loving the Kyber Crystals.

The warrior stirs and hears voices.

Voices as if from a fog.

In her mind's eye, she can see their conversation.

"She is not responding to the bacta," says a beautiful Pantoran woman with care and worry marking her blue face. She is—clan? "She should have been awake hours ago."

Another, uglier one—an adversary? responds, "She did take a serious knife wound and fell from ten meters. It will take time. She is one of the strongest people that I know." She senses the rueful smile in his voice. "I should know," the ugly one says, "I have tested her many times."

Her beautiful clan-sister speaks again. "Yes, Hondo, I know. If you hadn't picked her up and brought her back to the freighter, we would be having a different conversation—one that you might not like."

"Yes, yes, my dear. I know about your reputation. I am also seeing how much that reputation is poodoo, watching you care for this child. I think that your anger is better directed at someone else; someone who we both can take out our frustrations on—especially since this child so skillfully broke him already.”

A more metallic, measured voice breaks in. "Her wound has been repaired. She should be waking up. However, she remains unresponsive. Her vitals are low. The readings indicate that she is in great pain."

"Pain?" asks the ugly one.

"Yes," the metallic one replies. "I cannot tell if it is physical or emotional pain."

The conversations fade back into the fog and the darkness.

The warrior returns to her dreams, to her pain.

+=+=+=+=+=

_Ahsoka._

A nearer voice pokes through her consciousness; through the darkness.

_Why are you still sleeping, young one?_

"Master?"

_I am not your master. Open your eyes._

"I don't..."

_Listen to me, young one._

The warrior opens her eyes. She sees the darkness, forged by pain and sorrow. But it is tempered by light.

She sees brights lights. Several of them. She focuses on each one of them. One gives the impression of a tall Kel Dor, the light of love. Next to him a light of knowledge—a kind librarian, but one with her lightsaber on her belt—surprisingly to her, this light feels more recent than the others. Next to the light of the librarian, a light of wisdom—an ancient Cosian master, his white lightsaber encased in a cane.

Behind them, five or six smaller lights—lights filled with hope and love and a willingness to follow her anywhere. She cannot tell how many there are, giving her hope—at least in her dreams.

"No! I don't want to look anymore," she screams. "Why am I not with them?"

_Because. It is not your place or time._

"Who are you?" she asks. "Obi-wan?"

_I am not my Padawan._

A name finds its way through the the mists of her memory.

"Qui-gon?"

The light seems to smile. A deep Coruscanti-accented voice speaks to her.

_Yes, Ahsoka._

"Why are you here?" the warrior asks. "Am I to join the Force and my friends?"

_No, little one._ She hears a hint of dry humor in the voice. _You listen almost as well as your Master._

Another wound.

_I am here because you still have work to do, young one._

"But I am not a Jedi...."

The voice is tinged with regret. _I know, to my Order's everlasting shame. But because you are no longer a Jedi, you may be able to accomplish things that may yet bring light where there is darkness._

"I don't understand..."

_The living Force moves in its own way, Ahsoka. Perhaps you left the Jedi because you were meant to survive. Meant to carry on the work that you have started. Safeguarding the legacy of the Jedi, without treading the path of the Order._

_The lightsaber that you have found—that is a start. It belongs to one you have met before. One you have met recently, but cannot find in your memory. You will find other lightsabers as well. You must go back to your path. The answers you seek about the owner of that saber will come, in time._

She nods in understanding. A part of her longs for the darkness and the warmth.

_No, Ahsoka. You will go back to the light—there, you will meet an old friend of mine. She, too, is not a Jedi, but she understands the Force and understands us. She will provide you with a place._

"Will she teach me?" the warrior asks.

_No, she cannot teach you, but she can provide a sanctuary for you to train and learn and seek knowledge for a short time. She will help you return to your path._

_Go —Ahsoka—May the Force be with you. Be mindful of the living Force._

The warrior sees a brilliant green light in the darkness surrounding her.

As it approaches, it coalesces into a brilliant canopy. Of beauty and power. A forest canopy surrounding a lake, which in itself is surrounded by mountains. Except for a clearing.

The warrior sees many ships with their crews walking towards a castle with a large statue in front of it.

_Takodana_ \- the calm, deep voice says in her brain.

Her eyes open and are flooded with bright light—bright light filtered through a viscous fluid. A dull ache seeps into her consciousness from her right side. Her mouth is covered with a breathing mask; she cannot speak.

+=+=+=+=+=

Tahlen sits in a chair. His right arm is encased in a large splint. The splint is filled with bacta; he can feel the liquid knitting and setting the bones that the bitch broke after he stabbed her. His other hand is chained to a ring in the deck.

The door to the compartment opens and his worst nightmares walk in. At least, the ones after the Togruta who broke his arm without so much as a blink. After kissing him.

Lassa Rhayme and Hondo Ohnaka gaze at the Mirialan.

"Well," he asks, "What are you going to do with me?"

"My first choice would be to space your worthless ass," said Lassa. "I should've done it before and saved the Galaxy a lot of trouble, including my friend who is diving in a bacta tank right now." He flinches as she reaches towards him. She touches his cheek. "If she doesn't come out of it, this will still be on the table," she finishes.

Tahlen grows cold.

"Mine would be to turn you over to the Hutt for selling out his ship," said Hondo.

"You would be implicating yourself, Hondo," said Tahlen, "You would double-cross me?"

"Perhaps, sleemo, but the Hutt would have cause not to believe you, since you have a history of betraying employers. We, on the other hand, are pirates.

"You've betrayed me, you betrayed the Rodian and the Hutt with this ship," Lassa says. "I want to know, Tahlen, about your boss who was interested in the lightsaber," she continues. "Were you going to actually kill Orange for her? Who is she?"

Tahlen is silent. His eyes were calculating, but Lassa can sense something else in his body language.

"She is someone that I do not want to cross," he says. 

"You don't want to cross us, for sure," says Hondo. "There is also that young lady in the bacta tank on Lassa's ship. Once she gets out, I am sure that she will be interested in making your acquaintance again."

"Trust me," says Lassa, with a smirk, "she will not be interested in that part of you that you use for a brain, except as a trophy."

"Give us information on the sabers and such, Tahlen, and we will give you a head start before all of your friends," Hondo says.

Tahlen appears to come to a decision, after an agonizing amount of time.

"I work for Maz Kanata," he says.

"Maz?" both Lassa and Hondo exclaim. "The Pirate-Queen would hire scum like you?" Lassa asks."I've always heard that she had a reputation for honesty and straight-dealing. I didn't think that she would have anything to do with an asshole like you."

"Well, she did hire me," Tahlen says.

Hondo gazes at Tahlen. His eyes are skeptical through his goggles. He walks over to Tahlen and gently leans against the splint.

Tahlen screams and looks at Lassa. She doesn't say anything.

"Whoopsie!" says Hondo. "I forgot about your arm."

"What did you do for Maz?" Lassa asks.

Tahlen doesn't say anything. Hondo starts to move towards the splint.

"Okay, okay," Tahlen says. "I was a subcontractor of a subcontractor, cleaning toilets."

Lassa laughs—a sound that she has not heard from herself in a long time. 

"Go on," Hondo says.

"I overheard her talking when I was cleaning a toilet in the bar. She had seen Orange's post. She was concerned that someone was trying to lure Jedi or steal lightsabers," the Mirialan said.

"She always had a soft spot for those freaks," he said. "I thought that I could make good money either selling lightsaber crystals or the sabers to the Empire. Or even a Jedi or two to the Imperials. I thought your little friend Orange could lead me to them or I could sell her to the Empire," he finally said. "I think they would've paid top credit for her information."

Lassa walks over to him. He tries to move out of the way, but she is too fast. Her fist comes from another system as it connects with his jaw.

Hondo pulls out his comm and calmly says, "I think that we need a medical droid in here. Tahlen fell and hit his face."

He turns nonchalantly to Lassa, who is trying not to rub her knuckles. "I think we need to talk to Maz and let her know about the post and this scum."

Lassa nods.

The door opens and the medical droid trundles in, followed by Adis. He looks down at Tahlen and then looks at Lassa. "Ahsoka is awake and out of bacta. She wants to talk to you, Lassa."

Lassa looks at Hondo.

"Go, my dear," he says, "You are her family, now. I have some things to think about; some things I need to give her when she is ready," he says.

Lassa nods and leaves the room. Adis picks Tahlen off of the floor and deposits him in the chair, none too gently.

Hondo leaves the room and walks onto his new ship. He enters the Captain's cabin and moves to the closet. From the closet, he pulls a wooden box with a sling. He gently opens it and looks at the objects within. The objects give off an almost otherworldly sensation. He doesn't touch them or draw them.

Two lightsabers. Each a reminder of an ancient craft, now lost. A small bag of five crystals—the heart of the weapon—each one worth a small fortune. 

He closes the box and shakes his head at his soft heart. He makes a decision and slings the box. He walks to find the young Jedi.


	6. The Pirate Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a job and a family is offered.
> 
> NOTE: Pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy elevated the rank of quartermaster to much higher powers and responsibilities than it had aboard any merchant or naval vessel. The quartermaster was often granted a veto power by a pirate ship's "Articles of Agreement", in order to create an officer who could counterbalance the powers of the pirate captain. Pirate quartermasters, like pirate captains, were usually elected by their crews.
> 
> It was often the quartermaster's responsibility to lead the pirate boarding party when coming aboard another ship. This was usually done from the quarter deck which was the place where two ships touched during the boarding attack. The quartermaster ranked higher than any officer aboard the ship except the captain himself, and could veto the captain's decisions whenever the ship was not chasing a prize or engaged in battle. The quartermaster also was chiefly responsible for discipline, assessing punishments for crewmen who transgressed the articles.

Ahsoka buries her head under the hot stream of the shower. The water cascades over her and washes the remnants of the bacta from her face and montrals. The smell remains in her nostrils, but that can't be helped. She stops the cycle and replaces it with the hot air to dry.

She walks into the cabin. Her clothes, or what is left of them, lie on the bed. They have been repaired and cleaned as best they can. The leggings and belt are new, as her old trousers have been sliced open. The vest that she had worn onto the freighter is there, but is sewn and bloodstained on the side. There is also a simple tank top there. Easy to move in.

_Maybe it is time for a change._

She has worn these clothes since she left the Order, since she grew out of her Jedi combat outfit. Since she walked the streets of the lower levels of Coruscant, alone in the world, with the few things that she owned in a bag. Without her lightsabers, without her identity.

Alone.

The door to the cabin opens. Lassa Rhayme walks in, a look of relief on her face. She crosses the deck to Ahsoka and stops. She runs her fingers over the pale scar on Ahsoka's hip up to her side. The scar burns with her touch.

Ahsoka gives her a crooked smile and says, "Droid said that if I had left well enough alone with the lightsaber, I wouldn't have a scar."

"But you probably would have bled to death in the streets," Lassa finishes.

Ahsoka walks to the bed and picks up her new leggings. She sits and pulls them on over her underwear. She pulls on her boots and stands - the boots that she has worn since the Order with the monkey painted on the outside.

Lassa smiles at the design. It is so Ahsoka. Flippant. Joyful. Her own choice.

Ahsoka sees her smile and looks down at the boot. In her right boot, she places her knife in its sheath.

She pulls the vest off of the bed. She looks at the cut along the side, now repaired. There is no hint of the heavy bloodstain that had marked it. She looks at Lassa and puts the vest on back on the bed. 

Lassa looks at the repaired vest and closes her eyes.

"It is time for me to go, Captain," Ahsoka says.

"I know. I have been looking for this since we found you in that bar, babe."

"Lassa, I don't want to leave the _Opportunity_. But I have things that I need to do - things that I cannot do here."

Lassa nods. “We have made contact with someone. She wants to meet you," Lassa says.

Ahsoka nods. "Tahlen's boss?"

"Yes, but it is not what you think," the Pantoran says.

"I know," the ex-Jedi says.

"She wants to protect the Jedi and their legacy, just as much as you do, sweetling," Lassa says. "Tahlen co-opted her interest for his own. He hoped to sell you to the Empire," the Pantoran continued.

"Where is Tahlen?" Ahsoka asks. 

"He is—indisposed, right now," Lassa says with a smirk.

"Lassa, I don't want him..."

"He is not. He is only a little more broken than when you left him," Lassa says.

"We are going to give him a head start, as we promised him for his information. He was most helpful."

Ahsoka nods. "Are we on our way to Takodana?" she asks.

"How did you know?" Lassa asks, a look of incredulity on her face.

"Would you believe I was told by a man while I was in bacta?"

Lassa smiles. "No, but, with you, anything is possible."

"What are you going to do, Lassa?" Ahsoka asks.

"What I always do. We are going to survive and live to fight another day," she says.

"But, the first thing that I need to do, is maybe find myself another quartermaster," the pirate says.

"The last one I had, I had to shoot in the ass, as he was a thief—of my crew's money and of my heart," the Pantoran smirks.

Ahsoka smirks back. "I wasn't aware that Lassa Rhayme, Captain of the Blood Bone Order, and the _Opportunity_ had one of those."

"One thing that I have learned in my travels, Tano, is that you really have watch out for these pretty Mirialan faces. They will get you every time."

Ahsoka closes her eyes and that baggage is buried deep within the _Idiot's Array's_ hold.

"So who do you have in mind for this?" she asks.

"Well, the one who is my choice and the unanimous choice of the ship's crew is leaving us and deserting us for some quest," Lassa says.

Ahsoka's eyes widen as she looks at the pirate Captain. Lassa pulls a gold chain off of her belt. On it is a single republic credit, shining golden in the cabin’s bright light. She places it over the girl's head. The credit rests coolly between Ahsoka's breasts.

"Lassa, I...."

"I know, Tano. I know. I guess the position will have to remain vacant, full time."

"The crew wants you to know that you are a part of us—a part of them, no matter where you are—you have a family."

"What about Adis? He is more than qualified," Ahsoka asks.

"He doesn't want the responsibility—he'd rather just be the gunner and the muscle.” She grins. "Besides, I think that he feels some remorse—remorse for having to watch me, in his words, 'feel you up', to get you ready for boarding the _Array_." The pirate’s grin transforms into a Tano-worth smirk. "He is a prudish sort."

The new quartermaster returns the Smirk; looks her square in the eye. "He should get over it. I enjoyed it."

"Speaking of which, while I and some of the crew might appreciate the look, you might want to put on a shirt when you go to meet them."

Ahsoka turns to the bed, looks at her old vest for a moment and pulls the tank over her head. She moves her shoulders and arms within it and nods. She places the old vest in her duffel and dons her blasters.

She walks closer to the pirate Captain. She places her hands in Lassa's and looks into her eyes.

"Lassa, I can't thank you enough," she says. The pirate places her fingers over Ahsoka's lips and moves to cover them with her own. She pulls Ahsoka into an easy embrace.

"You don't have to," the pirate says. "You will always have a place with the Blood Bone Order. No matter where you are."

Ahsoka walks towards the airlock of the _Opportunity_. Lassa leads her to the hatch, but remains just behind her as the crew says their goodbyes. 

Adis is the last at the hatch. He wipes a tear away and drapes a beat-up nerf-leather jacket around her shoulders. He mumbles something about "it looks better on you, anyways, child."

Ahsoka turns and looks at her family. Lassa holds her gaze as she climbs through the airlock and into the _Idiot's Array._

Hondo greets her as she enters his new ship. He says nothing, as the ship detaches from the _Opportunity_ and heads to the surface of the impossibly green planet.

He continues to say nothing as the ship lands in the clearing. Ahsoka turns and looks at him expectantly, as she walks down the ramp.

He peers at her through his goggles and pulls a beaten up wooden box out of the ship by its worn leather sling. 

Hondo is uncharacteristically silent through the whole proceeding. Ahsoka opens the box and sees what lies in it.

The lightsaber that she had claimed from Tahlen. Another with a blue blade - both full-sized sabers. A bag with the warmth and feel of Kyber crystals.

She looks at the old pirate in something like amazement.

He bows his head. "I thought that you would want these, my little Jedi," he says. "I no longer have any need of them."

"You really have gone soft, Hondo," she whispers.

"I know. Disgusting isn't it?"

"After talking with that sleemo, Tahlen, I realized what I was selling with these laser swords and crystals," he says. 

"I know that I can make so much profit selling them to the Empire and others - like Grakkus the Hutt," Ohnaka continues. 

"But I think of you, my proud Jedi, and Kenobi and what you can accomplish with these blades. I even think of that bantha of a master of yours. I think of what you and they did with them and how you fought, oh how you fought for each other and for others." The pirate closes his eyes. "I think of those tiny Jedi that you had with you - especially the little Thlothian girl - what was her name?"

"Katooni."

"Yes, Katooni. I thought about how they fought for you and how they fought that Separatist goon who came to Florrum—for nothing more than each other and an idea." The old pirate's eyes mist over in his goggles. "You have a gift, Ahsoka Tano. The galaxy is better off with you doing whatever it is that you do."

Ahsoka looks at him in amazement. Her own eyes mist over. It has been a day for surprises, all around.

He looks at her and smiles—"Don't let this get out. My reputation would be ruined."

Ahsoka smiles and says, "Don't worry, Hondo. Your secret is safe with me."

+=+=+=+=+=

The warrior walks down a tree-shaded lane on a lush green planet. She approaches a lake and starts to walk around it to the entrance of a large castle. She walks underneath an entrance lined with flags. She recognizes many of them including a Mandalorian battle flag and surprisingly, the banners of Tatooine pod racing teams. She smiles as a memory stirs of her one experience with her Master’s love of the sport.

She stops at the entrance. She pulls a comm—one that she hasn’t used in weeks. She sighs and places it back in her belt pouch. There would be plenty of time to contact Bail, to come out of her deep cover submersion. First, she had something to do here. She walks through the doors of the castle. She enters a raucous bar with music playing and denizens from every race in the galaxy drinking and carousing.

As she enters the bar, she feels a bright Force presence at the front of her brain. The music stops and the Force signature guides her to a back table. There, a small orange being holds court. The little being looks at her through bright eyes. A pair of thick goggles are brought down over her eyes. The warrior is examined—the eyes of the being are old and powerful. The warrior is reminded of another ancient one—one who could strike fear and nervousness in any youngling, but whose calm, wise compassion make any and all feel comforted and accepted.

"Who are you?" the being asks with a powerful, but lilting voice.

The warrior answers. "I am one who seeks knowledge and training."

"What kind of knowledge and training?" the being asks.

The warrior answers in a clear, strong voice for one so young. "I was sent here by a Jedi—a Jedi who says that he knew you - once."

"Ah," the being says. "So Qui-Gon finally found you, did he?"

The warrior is not surprised.

"Come, child. Let me look at you,"the being says. "My name is Maz."

"Like you, I am no Jedi, but I know them—I know what they are about—I know the Force." A warm smile is directed at the warrior."You are welcome here, always."

The warrior relaxes. "The Empire?"

"I have lived through many of the dark times. The Sith, the Empire - they hold no fear for me and they leave me alone."

"Come, child. Let us go down to the lake. You can start your path there." She touches the warrior’s arm. “At some point soon, your journey will lead you back to that cave on Shili. To your own lightsabers. The ones that sing to you; the ones that you reclaimed from the darkness on Raada.”

The warrior shakes her head at Maz’s prescience. She had barely begun to think of those two half-finished blades. Blades that had held her in thrall in their rugged beauty and the hint of elegance. 

The warrior follows the strange little being with the bright Force presence out of the castle and towards the lake.

"I assume you have something in that box that you can show me," the little being, Maz says. The warrior says nothing, merely follows the ancient being.

They reach the shore of the lake. "Come, young one. Show me what you can do."

The warrior brings the green-bladed saber out from her belt. She unsheathes it and holds it in a standard Form I grip.

"Is that how you were truly going to hold that blade?" Maz chides, but with a smile belying her voice.

Ahsoka Tano Smirks and sheathes the blade. Her right hand shifts on the grip and turns it outward from her center. She re-ignites the blade. A memory stirs—one that should be painful, but instead unaccountably warms her. She sees a pair of green eyes over a thick beard grinning at her as he holds his lightsaber in the same style. 

The pain does come, but for now, it rests in a tightly closed box in her hear. She holds the grip and the Smirk. She is where she needs to be. _For now. For this moment._

Maz Kanata smiles approvingly and watches Ahsoka begin to exercise. There is hope in the movement of the light. Newfound faith in her abilities and her certainty. There is love in the light surrounding Ahsoka Tano—in spite of her losses.

Maz thinks of how at least one of those lost may be found again.

**Author's Note:**

> Lassa Rhayme is not original. She is a canon character from the novel Dark Disciple and a short story - Kindred Spirits.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Hard to Kill](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10026443) by [B_Radley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley)




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